Constraints on Wh-Question Formation in Gichuka
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.21.754Keywords:
Wh-movement, Wh- in situ, Constraints, Gichuka, BantuAbstract
Ross (1976) argued that wh-movement is not unbounded. This paper investigated wh-question formation in Gichuka, and checked whether wh-movement is constrained/bounded by the complex NP constraint, the subject condition, the wh-island constraint and the coordinate structure constraint. The results indicate that wh-movement is constrained by these constraints except the complex NP constraint. This paper therefore is a contribution to the principles and parameters of universal grammar.
References
• Abels, K., Muriungi, P. 2008. The focus marker in Kiitharaka: syntax and semantics. Lingua 118, 687–731.
• Chomsky, N. 1973.Conditions on transformations. In Stephen Anderson and Paul Kiparsky, eds., A Festschrift for Morris Halle. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
• Chomsky, N., 1995. The Minimalist Program. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
• Chomsky N. 2000. Minimalist inquiries: the framework. In: Martin R, Michaels D & Uriagereka J (eds) Step by Step. Essays on Minimalist Syntax in Honor of Howard Lasnik.
• Cambridge/Mass.: MIT Press, 89–155.
• Huang, J. 1982. Move wh in a language without wh-movement. Linguistic review, 369-416.
• Kathomi, M. 2013. The Syntax of Wh-Questions in Gichuka. Submitted MA Thesis, Chuka University: Chuka.
• Muriungi, P. 2003. Wh-Questions in Kiitharaka. Master’s thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
• Muriungi, P. 2005. Wh-questions in Kiitharaka. Studies in African Linguistics 34, 43–104.
• Rizzi, L. 1990. Relativized Minimality, vol. 16, Linguistic Inquiry Monograph. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
• Rizzi, L. 1997. The fine structure of the left periphery. In: Haegeman, L. (Ed.), Elements of Grammar: Handbook in Generative Syntax. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp. 281–337.
• Ross, J. R. 1967. Constraints on variables in syntax. Ph.D. Dissertation, MIT.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.